Gold-concentrating apparatus.



J. H. MONTGOMERY.

4GOLD GONGBNTRATING APPARATUS.

'APPLICATION FILED DEO.19. 1907.

Patented Mar.2, 1909.

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THE Nonnls PETERS cu.. wAsmNamN. n. c4

UNITED s'rrrrEs PATENT oni-uen.

JOHN HQMONTGOMEHY, OF SOUTH OMAHA, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-EIGHTHS TO ADAM KUNDERT, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA, AND FIVE-SIXTEENTHS TO MARTHA MONT- GOMERY, OF SOUTH OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

GOLD-CONCENTRATING APPARATUS.

Application filed. December 19, 1907.

To all whom it may conce-rn:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. MONTGOMERY, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gold-Concentratino Apparatus, of which the following is a s ecification.

Th1s invention relates to improvements in means for concentrating fine particles or liour gold from the sand or soil and separating it therefrom, and has for its principal object the provision of means for this purpose which shall consist of few parts, to

e conveniently moved or transported, but which will be effective in o eration for eX- tracting the gold, and may e economically operated.

The invention has reference to economy of construction, and includes the employment of a rotatable perforated casing or concentrating cylinder used in connection with a forced feed and a stationary receiving jacket, and an amalgamating tank having devices for separating the percentage of gold from other substancesand uniting it with mercury.

The invention consists of the novel combination and arrangement of arts, as described herein, pointed out y the claim and illustrated in the drawing, wherein,-

Figure 1 represents a vertical side view, partly in section, of the invention. Fig. 2 1s a view of the rotatable, perforated casing or concentrating cylinder, and the stationary receiving jacket and its support, sectioned on line a b of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a detail relating to Fig. 1, showing a worm arranged and used in connection with the operating shaft and within the feed box or ho per. Fig..4 is a somewhat reduced detail, eing a plan view of the perforated casing and broken away parts, to clearly show use of divergent sustaining-arms.for the receiving jacket.

Referring now to the drawing for a more particular description, numeral 1 indicates a shaft having bearings 2 upon any suitable supporting frame 3, to receive rotation from power wheel 4. U on shaft 1 is secured transversely dispose sustaining-arms 5 having `bearing-heads 6. I rovide the erforated casing 7, preferab y constructe of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Serial No. 407,114.

sheet metal, as galvanized iron, and having open ends 8 and `9, and formed as a truncated cone, its end 9 of greater diameter being at the rear, the inner surface of the casing f being secured upon bearing-heads 6 of said sustaining-arms. l construct a feeding-box 10 having the open top 11, parallel sides 12 and a bottom 13 formed inclinedly to pass downward from its front end 14, its rear end extended to pass partly within casing 7.

Upon frame 3 and extending parallel with the wall of the perforated casinfT are secured sustaining-rails 15, and l provide the receiving vat or jacket 16, having a curved wall conforming in a measure to the form of the casing, but formed with a downwardly depressed portion between its ends, as will be explained; the upper longitudinal edges of the wall of the receiving vat are secured upon the upper surfaces of sustaining-rails 15.

l construct the cylindrical amalgamatingtank 17, which is vertically disposed, and may be reinforced at its upper end by band 18 and is provided with a bottom 19, preferably constructed as a circular metal casting with an annular recess 41 at its center as a bearing for the lower end of thewertical shaft 20, this shaft being vertically disposed therein and provided with oppositely-disposed vanes or stirring arms 21 secured thereon.

I provide conducting-pipe 22, its upper end having a connection as at 23 with the enlarged rear portion of the receiving jacket,

its lower end entering the amalgamating tank as at 24 near the bottom of this tank and secured to the wall thereof. The receiving-jacket is formed with a wall 25 having a convexed outer surface and inclined upwardly and convergent toward its front end from the junction of pipe 22 and also formed convergent and inclined upwardly toward its rear end from said pipe connection, whereby the upper end of the conducting pipe is disposed at the lowest depression of the receiving jacket.

Numeral 26 indicates a pump which has a connection as by crank 27 with shaft 1, this shaft traversing feed box 10 in a lengthwise direction, and upon shaft 1 within the feed box is secured the Worm 28. Upon shaft 1 is secured pinion 29 to register with gear 30 upon the vertical shaft 20, and it will be understood that a rotation of the driving shaft in a direction indicated by the arr v in 2 will operate the parts in a practical manner to pass forwardly any material thrown within the feed boX, and will operate the pump to cause water to pass through pipe 31, and mix with material in the feed box. As the bottom of the feed box is inclined toward the rear of the machine this construction assists the worm in forcing the material to a position within the perforated casing, and as the circular wall of the casing is formed divergent or flaring toward its rear end, the material is assisted by gravity to a forward movement or a direction toward the rear end 9 of said casing, the hner parts passing through openings 32, and pieces of rock or larger substances pass end 9 of the casing and are carried away by spout 33.

It will be seen that acket i6 will receive allV particles which pass the perforations o'F casing 7, since it is disposed immediately beneath said casing, and the contents of jacket 16 will consist of the finer parts of the soil, sand and a certain percentage of flour gold which is to be separated from the other substances, and all pass, together with the water through the conductine' pipe to the bottom of the amalgarnating tank where a novel treatment is effected for collecting the gold by means of agitating the plastic mass, as will be explained.

The quantity of quicksilver employed and placed in the tank depends upcn the class of soil operated upon and the degree of neness of the gold. The process of separation and amalgamation depends upon the agitation of the plastic mass within the tank. Rotation of shaft 20 causes a swinging movement of stirring-arms 2l, and a violent agitation of the contents of the tank is effected; the mercury is distributed through all parts of the mass in the lower part of the tank, and by reason of its greater weight the quicksilver will not rise more than half the height of the tank the particles of gold coming in contact with the quicksilver, during movement of the mass, amalgamates therewith, and remains, as stated, in the lower part of the tank, the water, sand and alluvium passing upward and may escape through spout 34 near the top of the tank.

The degree of agitation for the treatment just described will depend upon the class of soil under treatment the amount of water used will depend upon the same, and therefore it is desirable to employ draw-off cocks located at different altitudes in the wall of the tank, as shown at 'and S6.

Operation of the machine may be continued any desired length of time before removing the amalgam. For removing the amalgam, cock 37 is used, at which time water is pumped in the usual way and traverses the several passageways mentioned, and the tank, at this time is cleared of its contents, clean-cut aperture 38 being provided for this purpose near the bottom of the tank; aperture 38 is provided with cap 39 which has a seating upon the wall of the tank; upon the inner surface of thetank adjacent aperture 38 is seated a 'iF-shaped angle iron, the leg of the T having a threaded terminal which traverses the cap, and by means of nut d() the parts may be secured or reincved, whenever desired, and this opening with its closure affords access to the lower floor of the tank fer the clearing out of the amalgam, whenever desired.

is thus described, the devices are well adapted for placer mining; the parts are few and may be constructed at slight expense, comparatively speaking, an-d by reason of the particular construction shown may be moved conveniently from one location to another, and in localities where water is scarce, the water used forseparating, may be again used.

Having fully described my invention, what l claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is,-a

ln a device of the character described, the combination with a flaringly formed perforated cylinder, of a shaft upon which said cylinder is mounted, means for rotating said shaft, a feed box the end of which projects in to the smaller end of said flaring cylinder, a worm upon said shaft and working in said feed box, a water supplying means adapted to deliver water to said feed box, connections between said shaft and said means, an apron located beneath said flaringly formed cylinder and having its lowest point intermediate its ends, an amalgamating device, means for actuating said amalgamating device from said shaft, and a conduit leading from the lowest point in said apron to said amalgamator.

ln testimony whereof l have afxed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. MONTGOMERY. vriitnessesz Hman A. STURGES, EUGENE JoHNsoN. 

